Carwyn wants Labour to get behind a Norway-style Brexit deal to save jobs
THE time has come for Labour to push for full membership of the European Economic Area when the country leaves the EU so Britain will have an arrangement which is good for business and jobs, according for First Minister Carwyn Jones.
This would mean the UK would join Norway and a small number of other countries which are not part of the EU but which enjoy full participation in the single market.
Support is growing for the UK going into the EEA while a final deal is negotiated.
Former Conservative leader William Hague has suggested this as a two-year staging post and Aberavon Labour MP Stephen Kinnock argues Tory MPs could back this move as part of a “coalition of common sense”.
When asked if the time had come for Labour to back full EEA membership, Mr Jones said: “Yes I do...
“Why jump off a cliff when you can walk over a bridge?”
The Welsh Labour leader said there was “no going back” on leaving the EU but “that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it in a way that’s good for business, good for jobs”.
He expects Brexit will see “a lot more cross-party working” than is normally the case.
Mr Jones met with Labour MPs from Wales this week as the dust settles on an election in which the Conservatives were initially predicted to take around half of Wales 40 seats but ultimately saw their tally of MPs fall to just eight when Labour took three constituencies.
Bridgend AM Mr Jones said Labour had “braced” itself to lose seats, but that its campaign “resonated across Wales”.
Next time, he said, Labour needed to win the election.
Acknowledging the role played by UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the campaign, he said: “Everybody recognises the contribution that Jeremy made to the success of the campaign. That much is true...
“We need to work out now, of course, how to win and how to win
more seats in the parts of England where we didn’t do so well.”
He argues the party needs to look at areas such as the West Midlands to see how it can deliver a better result. In Wales, Labour took Vale of Clwyd, Gower and Cardiff North from the Conservatives.
Mr Jones pointed to Theresa May’s speech in Wrexham as a moment which made a “real difference” to the outcome of the election.
The launch of the Welsh Conservative manifesto was completely overshadowed by the U-turn on social care changes in England which were dubbed a “dementia tax”.
Describing this as an episode in which “much of the sheen came off,” he said: “She was no longer strong and stable.”
Ipsos Mori’s analysis of the election shows that “all the swing to Labour was among under 44s” and this was “highest of all among 25-34s”.
Mr Jones said: “Jeremy Corbyn had strong resonance with young people particularly. He was responsible I think for getting young people out to vote and getting them to vote Labour.
“We were subtle in our message. We emphasised the fact that we are Welsh Labour speaking for Wales but we are part of a wider family.”
Stressing the need for the Conservatives to pay attention to wider concerns, he said: “We have a Tory Government that’s not used to listening.
“They’ll have to listen now if Brexit is going to work.”
Party campaigns were suspended during the election in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, and this week there was dismay when a man allegedly drove a vehicle from Pontyclun Van Hire into worshippers near Finsbury Park mosque on Sunday night.
Mr Jones said this highlighted the importance of the “Great Get Together” initiative inspired by murdered MP Jo Cox which aims to bring communities together.
Ms Cox said in her first speech to parliament that “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”.
The First Minister said: “We obviously cannot let those who would set us against each other to win and that’s why it’s so important to make sure we support events such as the Great Get Together.”